Bloomberg News

Harvard Professor’s YouTube Lectures Upgraded on IPad

Professor Michael Sandel’s lectures
on justice, part of some of Harvard University’s most popular
courses, are also a hit on YouTube, viewed millions of times
with thousands of comments.

Unlike the students in his class who actively participate
in discussions, the online audience can do little more than sit
there and watch. That’s about to change, thanks to a three-year-
old startup based in San Francisco, Bloomberg.com reported on
its Tech Deals blog.

Net Power & Light Inc. is making its debut with technology
it calls Spin designed to turn online education into a group
activity, even if participants are on opposite sides of the
globe. The company has released three free applications for
Apple Inc. (AAPL:US)’s iPad that let users create virtual classrooms with
educational content from sources such as Harvard, Stanford
University, TED and the National Geographic Channel.

The effort is part of the wider trend of educators and
entrepreneurs harnessing technology to teach online. Stanford
professor Sebastian Thrun founded Udacity Inc. last year to
deliver courses, mainly on computer science and robotics.

“Teachers felt web-based learning wasn’t giving them the
full experience,” Tara Lemmey, Net Power & Light’s co-founder
and chief executive officer, said in an interview. “Education
shouldn’t live by itself. It’s a world of together.”

Using Net Power & Light’s apps, users can fast-forward to
the best parts, jump to a different clip, or pause the program
so the group can debate a particular point via videoconference.

Virtual Classroom

The sharing, reacting and questioning that occur in group
settings enhance the learning experience, which is why Net Power
& Light has focused on enabling those types of exchanges in its
technology, said Lemmey, a serial entrepreneur who was formerly
president of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“It offers great promise of convening groups of people,
students and also citizens in general to engage in discussion
and debate of important questions,” said Sandel. “It can
potentially be a very valuable tool for civic engagement and
enriching public discourse.”

Other features in the apps include a shared chalkboard so
users can draw on the screen, and individual audio controls for
members in your group. Like a real gathering, more than one
conversation might be going on at a time. Enlarging or reducing
a participant’s picture on the screen adjusts their volume.

One of the apps, called Together Justice, is built around
Sandel’s course on justice. Users can invite others to watch the
12-part series of lectures, which include discussion guides. The
Harvard professor also plans to use Net Power & Light’s
technology this semester to connect his students with those at
universities in Tokyo, Shanghai, New Delhi and Sao Paolo.

“The global class is the next stage in the experiment,”
Sandel said. “We would listen to one another and learn from one
another.”

John Seely Brown, former director of Xerox Corp. (XRX:US)’s Palo
Alto Research Center and a member of Net Power & Light’s board,
called the technology a “breakthrough” that adds a new
experiential layer to our digital lives.

“It’s what makes you feel more connected,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Marcus Chan in San Francisco at
mchan239@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at
tgiles5@bloomberg.net